


500 words you should know: #286 - Maverick  for Fire_Sign

by Shamashe



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M, Review of characteristics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 17:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5214959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shamashe/pseuds/Shamashe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack considers Phryne’s attributes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	500 words you should know: #286 - Maverick  for Fire_Sign

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks to KG for the original characters. And thanks to Fire_Sign for the prompt.

Maverick  
‘mav-rik  
noun  
: An unorthodox or independent-minded person.  
: A person who shows independence of thought and action, especially by refusing to adhere to the customs, policies etc. of a group to which he or she belongs.

 

“She certainly is a ‘maverick,’ that’s for sure!”

Jack looked at his friend John Robertson in surprise. It was an apt name for Phryne. Describing her exploits and her outlook on life. But how did John know that? Did he know her better than he had mentioned or did he just have that outsider perspective that instantly sizes someone up with only scraps of their story? 

Jack knew John well by now, having communicated with him for years after the war – where they once had their uniforms switched because of the similarity of their names. But he hadn’t heard the story of how Phryne rescued him with her ambulance until tonight. Perhaps he was just drawing conclusions based on what he knew of her already. 

After dropping him off at his hotel, Jack kept returning to John’s statement, thinking of Phryne’s many exploits, at least the ones he knew of. She was indeed remarkable, having mastered a considerable number of unusual and certainly non-traditional skills. She had that quality of being the “lady” she was - living a life of wealth and privilege – but she also flouted social convention by stepping outside the boundaries of so-called class distinctions. 

Unlike others of her social standing, she knew about the ways of life outside of what would be considered “normal” for a woman of her position. She didn’t mind enjoying her social status but often regarded it as a mere convenience and objected to being classified or undermined due to her wealth or gender. When that happened, she used her depth of knowledge to both disarm and often stop others from continuing to think of her (or anyone else) disparagingly. 

Jack knew that Phryne dearly loved adventure. She also loved solving a mystery and didn’t mind getting her hands dirty if that’s what it took to solve it. But she did it with panache and unfailing graciousness. She played by her own rules, but made sure no one got hurt in the process – unless she was the one who did it - “and for good reason!” he could hear her exclaim as she blew the smoke off her pearl handled pistol. 

She valued her independence almost more than any other thing in her life. She valued her freedom, her abilities and her intrepid spirit. She looked for – or created - opportunities to have fun and to enjoy life. She knew her limits and had no compunction about having someone else do what she didn’t want to, or didn’t like to do. She especially enjoyed doing things that others thought she couldn’t, just to surprise or even to shock them. Jack had certainly been the recipient of that treatment more than once. 

He supposed she wouldn’t go so far as to call her self a true hedonist, but she would probably call herself a voluptuary - having the means to indulge in the quality and luxuries of life particularly regarding the sensual arts. He knew that she enjoyed men and occasionally, women, but also knew that she didn’t allow herself to be treated poorly by either. From what he gathered, she gave equally and well and when she was through, her lovers didn’t feel the less for it. 

He admired her acute sense of fair play and justice, even though he was frequently exasperated by what she did to achieve her goals. She had a brilliant mind and extraordinary intuition. She had a deeply compassionate nature, but was unafraid to be ruthless if needed. She loved solving a problem that was seemingly unsolvable and felt that she could match wits with the best of them - apparently feeling that he was worthy of her intellectual thrusts and parries.

Her love of mystery had led her to her current foray into Private Investigations and of course, her relationship with him – one Detective Inspector Jack Robinson – the only detail of her life, as far as he could tell, that she couldn’t pin down and identify as being a certain way or as having a certain, perhaps predictable, outcome. 

Jack knew that he was a paradox to her. He acted as both a barometer and a temperature gauge - sometimes, prompting her to examine, consider and occasionally dust off her personal viewpoint. He was both a threat and a comfort to her sense of interior order. An enigma, that she met head on or sideways at every opportunity. 

But Jack sensed that he affected her heart as well and he believed she knew that to be her biggest challenge, he certainly did. So the more she teased and cajoled, the more he was clear about his boundaries -- not diminishing her, in fact actually enjoying the interplay, but not allowing her to go too far and create what neither was willing to step into unless it was the right thing for them both. “It’s about honor,” Jack thought, “Both mine and hers!

And so their game continued. Both consummate players, both aware of the risks, both equally strong and, surprisingly, equally vulnerable. Yet both playing for a much larger stake than either had yet to truly acknowledge. 

Winning would begin a different kind of journey and they didn’t know if they wanted to go on it yet. So they opted for a different kind of relationship - the private investigation of each other! Further case history - yet to be written…


End file.
